Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew

At that time Jesus again spoke to the chief priests and the Pharisees and told them in parables : « The kingdom of heaven is like a king celebrating the marriage of his son. He sent his servants to call the guests to the wedding, but they did not come.

Then he sent other servants to say to the guests : « Behold, I have prepared my banquet ; my oxen and my fat animals have been slaughtered ; everything is ready; come to the wedding. But they did not notice and went away, one to his field, the other to his business.

The others seized the servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king became angry, sent his troops, killed the murderers and put their city to the sword. Then he said to his servants : ‘The wedding feast is ready, but the guests were not worthy. Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the wedding all those you find.

The servants went to the crossroads and rounded up everyone they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. The king entered to examine the guests and saw a man not wearing his wedding garment.

He said to him: « My friend, how did you get in here without a wedding dress? The man kept silent. Then the king said to the servants : « Throw him, bound hand and foot, into the darkness outside; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are the called, but few the chosen ». (Mt 22, 1-14)

We are all invited

« The kingdom of heaven is like a king celebrating the wedding feast of his son » God dreams of a universal banquet for all mankind, a true royal banquet, a feast. This Sunday’s celebration invites us to remember that we are guests of the Lord.

God always invites When a wedding was imminent, in the tradition of invitations in the ancient Middle East, there were two invitations : the first announced that there would be a wedding, the second sought guests.

The first servants sent were those who announced the feast, and many of those who had been warned, the Gospel tells us, did not care : « They did not want to come ». The second invitation came when they went to fetch the guests : they had been given time to prepare themselves, and what is more, they had been taken away.

Here, the second group of servants is even killed : « They did not care and went away, one to his field, the other to his business; the others seized the servants, mistreated them and killed them ».

It is enough to put under the words of old some concrete examples, chosen from our daily life, to discover that Jesus is describing with great precision the state of our world. For example : « How do you expect me to go to Mass in the parish on Sundays ? I only have that day to do sport » or « It is the day we are often away from home » or « I still have homework and lessons to study for tomorrow, Monday ».

Let us not give God the last place! So many other voices cover His calls. The prophet Isaiah, more than 2,700 years ago, in the 8th century BC, was already inviting us to the great messianic feast : « On that day, the Lord God of the universe will prepare for all the peoples of the earth, on his holy mountain, a banquet of succulent meat and delicious wine ».

In the first reading, Isaiah describes the great feast for millions of believers : « On that day, the Lord God of the universe will remove the veil of mourning that enveloped all peoples and the shroud that covered all nations. ».

He will destroy death forever. The Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces. That day will be a day of joy for those who have set their lives on God and lived in hope. Since the called have not responded to the invitation addressed to them, there has been an invitation for all, the call is universal.

The elect are all the people who hear this call, and no one is excluded, whatever his place of origin, whatever his ideas, his race or his beliefs : « Go therefore to the crossroads: whoever you meet, invite him to the wedding feast ».

The servants went to the crossroads, gathered everyone they met, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. Let us respond, brothers and sisters, to the many calls of Christ that come to us through the Gospel, through the Church, through the encounters of our lives.

God invites everyone, without discrimination, and even favours the poor, the marginalised, those left behind. We are all invited to the wedding ! However, like all invitations, God’s comes up against our freedom. Choosing to attend the wedding or not. Choose! This is the meaning of today’s Gospel.

Deacon Michel Houyoux

Links to other Christian sites

Loyola Press : click here to read the post → Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

◊ Vatican news : click here to read the post → Reflections for the XXVIII Sunday

Video Forge Road Bibel Chapel → https://youtu.be/6tenTsa4bNE